The sun was pleasant on his arm, the shining chrome of the window trim reassuringly cool from where the flowing air had taken chilled it. Traffic and bees droned in subtle harmony and somewhere a bird was calling. He turned his head and stared deep into patient, trusting blue eyes and felt a little surge of happiness. His eyes dropped and he lent forward to capture the bubblegum pink lips, anticipating the soft warm comfort of the kiss. The leather of the bench seat crunched and squeaked slightly against his denim clad thighs as he twisted. Fingers reaching out to stroke into soft dark curls and close round the warm skin at Cas' nape.

Someone was tugging at his arm where it lay against the window frame, and he tried to shake them off, angry at the interruption. A sharp, pinching sensation round his wrist dragged him back, and Cas was dissolving away from him.

He blinked, a scuffed duck egg blue paint finish swimming into focus briefly, before his vision drifted back into a blur. He groaned. His head hurt. In truth his whole body hurt. But his head hurt more. A consistent pulsing, throbbing pain. The dream drifted away, and a different pain overwhelmed the physical, as reality, raw and brutal surged back. He let out one little sob and turned his head, pushing his face into the pillow beneath him, wiping his damp cheek against the stiff harsh cotton. The smell of the prison detergent destroying the brief illusion of contentment.

"Welcome back to the land of the conscious, Mr Winchester. You've disappointed me, Dean. I thought we had an understanding." He knew that voice, but where from… he blinked against the shards of brilliance that pierced his retinas, trying to lift his head so he could stare at the source of it. Confused and dazed, he opened his mouth to speak, suddenly realising how dry and disgusting his tongue felt. Little more than a croak came out. What the fuck! He could barely swallow and an unwelcome taste of bile burned at the back of his throat.

He heard a door creaking open. A normal door, not a cell door, where was he? It smelt of prison, but this bed was softer than his bunk. He closed his fingers round a metal rail, but that didn't make sense, the bars were in the wrong place. They ran the wrong way, or was he upright? He threw arms and legs in an effort to stop himself lurch to the floor, only to kick against bedding and rails. Dean tried to squint his eyes into seeing something that didn't resemble an overexposed art print. "Mr Crowley," this voice was different, clipped and professional, but still kinder. "Can this not wait. He's still concussed."

Concussion. That explained it. So he'd hit his head. When had he hit his head? Or had someone punched him? Would hardly be the first time he'd been punched. But he'd listened so carefully to Benny. He'd stayed out of trouble. Followed every instruction. He'd been so good. If he was good and kept his head down, he would get out of here. He was only here for a few weeks, while they saved Cas. He was here to save Cas. Where was Cas? Stupid boy. Cas wasn't in jail with him. Benny was in jail with him, Cas was… Cas was… Jesus, he had to get out of here and find Cas. He would be having nightmares without Dean to comfort him and quiet him back to sleep. He started to struggle to sit up, to roll out of the bed, but his arms wouldn't work. Every time he tried to move them they got stuck. He tried to shake his head free of the confusion that seemed to be addling his brain, but only succeeded in making his head scream in pain, bright circles of light sparkled in his eyes and the super-bright world faded to black.

He felt tears sliding down the sides of his face in twin tracks and running into his ears. He instinctively tried to raise his hands to wipe at his face only to have them snatch short, sniffing the salty sting back into his throat, he started to cough and the inside of his nose smarted cold and sharp.

One blissfully cool hand touched his forehead and a tissue gently wiped at the corners of his eyes. Cas. Thanks Cas. He tried to thank him aloud, but his mouth and throat were just too dry to make any noise. He groaned as his eyelids were prised open and a bright light flashed first in one eye and then the other.

"Hush now, Dean." That wasn't Cas. Where had he gone? He wanted Cas to be here. "I'll fetch you something to moisten your mouth and then we'll see about some meds for that headache." Now that would be nice. His head did hurt.

"Thanks, Cas." He croaked it out, but even to his own ears the sound was painfully cracked. Dumb ass, his brain tried to tell him. That's not Cas...

Marcy Kunsberger stared at the extremely tall young doctor who had arrived in her hospital room, dressed in a white coat, a row of pens clipped neatly in his upper pocket. He smiled at her reassuringly, as he ducked his head in through the door frame, beautiful glossy hair swinging softly with the motion of his head as he turned, closing the door softly behind him. Bess, who had refused to leave, even during the night, stirred instantly on the folding bed the nursing staff had dragged up from maternity. Marcy caught sight of the deep line of now mottled purple bruises on the girls pale skin and her lips tightened into a thin line.

She turned her attention back to the young man. He glanced nervously at the door, as if afraid he would be overheard. "Mrs Kunsberger? Please don't be alarmed. I know you had a nasty shock yesterday. Agent Lomax rang me and I got here as quickly as I could."

"Agent Lomax?" Bess said, sitting up, sleep blinked back quickly from her bright eyes. "Agent Lomax has been shot."

"I know, Bess. You are Bess, right?" She nodded. "Lomax... Joe. He spoke to me, before… just before... I'm friends with Jody Mills, the Sheriff, he was on his way to meet and you both know my brother, Dean." He paused, and grimaced as if at his own lack of articulation. "My name is Sam Winchester and I'm here to take you somewhere safe." Marcy stared at him, looking for any kind of resemblance and found none. She let her gaze fall up and down his impressive height.

"You don't look much like him." She said plainly. He gripped the back of his neck, and smiled at her ruefully from under his bangs. "And," she said a little tartly, "you need a damned haircut."

The smile spread into an impressive grin, as he nodded. Glancing between them. "Yes Ma'am. My brother would wholeheartedly agree with you." He opened his wallet and took out a picture, passing it to her. She squinted slightly. A pretty blonde smiled out at her from the middle of the picture, her dress a startling white. On either side of her stood two young men in matching suits and buttonholes. One peering at the camera from behind a curtain of hair, his grin just as goofy as it was right now. The other she smiled at fondly. The image provoking the memory of two very similar young men, one who she had last seen over thirty years ago, the other… this young man's brother.

"OK, young man… Sam...explain to me… why are you dressed like a doctor and where exactly am I going? And for goodness sake, call me Marcy."

Spengler stared at the woman who had been escorted into the interview room. "Mr Spengler?" She wasn't young, but she was attractive. And very definitely not Dean Winchester. He nodded, and then suddenly conscious that his mouth was agape, he snapped his jaw upwards and then found his voice. "Who are you and where is my client?"

She held her hand out, smiling apologetically. "I'm Missy, the Chief Administrator here. I'm afraid Mr Winchester was involved in an altercation during the exercise session yesterday and by the time I realised you were coming today, it was too late to contact your office to let you know."

Spengler blinked at her. Missy? Who the hell introduced themselves by their first name. Or was she called Miss Missy? "Erm… an altercation?" Shit. Was he too late?

"Yes, he was involved in a fight with another inmate in the yard and had to be tased for the safety of everyone concerned. Unfortunately he knocked his head as he fell and has been moved to the prison infirmary as a precaution. The medical team has diagnosed a concussion…"

"A concussion? Miss … erm … Missy. I must insist on having access to my client."

"An access that won't be denied Mr Spengler, but unfortunately as there is no visitor accommodation in the infirmary attached to the maximum security wing. And, as it isn't possible to bring Mr Winchester to you while he is still under treatment, that access will have to be postponed."

Harry sensed the steady determination behind the pleasant smile. "May I get you something to drink? While you wait?"

"Wait?" Spengler's voice squeaked, slightly and he coughed in an effort to cover it. His mind galloping through his options.

"For Mr Crowley…He would like to speak to you, in person."

Spengler was thinking about whether he had time to check in with the others first, but he heard himself saying. "A coffee would be lovely." So he added hurriedly, "But I do need to call my office urgently."

Missy nodded again. "I can let you use the phone in the visitor centre office. I'm afraid if you want to retrieve your cell, you will have to wait until you have signed back out."

Meg had brought the encrypted cell phone with her into Cas' room. She had been woken just after four am, by the insistent buzzing. It had not been Bal, but Cas' brother Gabriel. She had been initially extremely cautious, as they had not spoken before, but no-one else had this number. It seemed things had taken a sudden and alarming turn. She woke Cas as carefully as she could. Closing her hand gently over his mouth, in case he shouted or screamed. He had been so shaken after Adler and his brother had spent several hours in his room pouring poison into his ears, that she had doubled the dose of his sleeping meds. He would be groggy.

She felt him stiffen briefly and she whispered urgently into his ear. "S'OK Cas, open your eyes, sweetheart. It's just me." The fear in his eyes as he opened them, pierced her to her core. "You have to get up Cas. Gabriel is coming. We're leaving. Today." She kissed his forehead gently and removed her hand, as lucidity replaced the fear. Moving to undo the cuffs from his wrists and ankles.

"What's happened? Is it Dean…" he paused realising just how dark it was. "What time is it?"

"Just after 5. As far as I know Dean is fine. I don't know all the details, Cas. When I tried to contact Bal last night, he was already on the road with Sam. Someone tried to ambush Sheriff Mills when she met with the feds who've been sniffing around. One of the agents has been shot and the other one has been suspended pending an investigation. Gabriel messaged me an hour ago and I've been prepping ever since. They think Adler was there, Cas. That's why he wasn't at dinner yesterday evening. Christ, I was so certain he was in here getting at you again." She shuddered. "I've was so damned anxious and I couldn't let it show. That meal was agony. If I didn't know better I'd swear your bastard brother didn't mention anything on purpose and I couldn't just out and out ask..."

Cas gripped her hand. "Come on, Megster. Aside from scaring the crap out of me, the other night, Adler hasn't done much worse than pull my hair, since I've been back here. You've hurt me more than that, punching me in the arm for teasing you!"

She swallowed and grinned at him, knowing he was pushing his own fears down to reassure her. "No-one knows where Adler is, Cas. If it was him, he was in Wyoming just after lunchtime yesterday… he could get back here today. Michael told me last night that there was some problem with the Seattle deal, he's going into the office today and likely to be heading up there this evening, straight from work. He was apologising for abandoning me to dinner with Raph."

Cas' mouth twitched into a curve in spite of the tension. He knew Meg well enough to know she had developed quite a crush on his big brother, and he suspected it was probably mutual. Michael was not normally quite so considerate. "So, you think that Raphael is clearing him out of the way so that he can…"

"None of us know what to think, but we're not taking any chances."

"What is it?" the chill had re-entered his voice. "What aren't you telling me, Meg?"

"Someone tried to kill Marcy, Cas."

"Marcy? Is she all right?"

"She's fine. I did say 'tried'. Sam and Bal are on their way to fetch her. Jody is going to wangle them in past Lusk PD somehow. I'm not sure. They're bringing her down to Vegas, and Gabe is coming here. No-one wants to risk you being here any longer."

"What about the investigation, the evidence gathering?"

"Evidence is no good if Raph spirits you away again, Cas. The whole reason for you and Dean to play along was so that he didn't suspect we were on to him. If he has tracked your trail as far as Marcy, who knows what other information he may have. There's no point with them threatening Dean as they were, to leave either of you at risk any longer." She pushed his back pack towards him, and a pile of dark clothes. "I'm going to check where everyone is. Get your ass dressed and I'll be back in a few minutes. Gabe should be here in about two hours. He says to get to your 'den' and hide in there until he gets here, says you'll know where I'm talking about."

Cas nodded. "Typical Gabe. Do you think he realises I'm six foot now? It's a treehouse, Meg. He helped me build it when I was a kid. It's only a couple of feet off the ground, probably half fallen down by now. But the coppice should be dense enough to hide in. There's a lane that runs down towards the lake. It cuts along the back of the estate, there's a low rail fence runs along against the trees down there. We need to go now, before it gets light, or we'll be seen crossing the lawns. And we need to turn off the automatic security lights. The switches are in the utility room behind the kitchen."

"OK, I'll do that just as you set out."

He stopped getting dressed, one leg in the dark combats she had given him. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head, knowing he was going to be difficult. "I need to stay here, Cas. Pretend you're still in your room, like normal. If I'm not around in the kitchen at breakfast, it will raise suspicions, and they'll find out you're not here, start searching. We need to delay the discovery as long as possible."

"No fucking way. I am not leaving you here alone."

She sighed. "As soon as Raphael and Michael leave for the office, and I know that Gabe has you, I'll lock your bedroom door, slide the key underneath, then sneak out of the house."

"What if you can't get out? What if Adler arrives back, you said he could be back here today. Or Raph decides to stay home for the day? It's too dangerous."

"Cas, we haven't got time for this. There is absolutely no reason for them to suspect me. I'm just an agency nurse, remember. Now stop arguing and do as you're told. You're gonna blow it. You have to get to the DA's office, it's the only way to get Dean out of jail." They stared at each other in the soft glow from the night light. She kissed him. Hard. On the lips. Just like she had when she wanted her own way when they were at college. "Please Cas. Please. Just do as you're told."

He shook his head, but it wasn't a refusal. He gave a little sob, and kissed her back. "Don't make me do this Meg, please. I..."

She wiped a tear from his cheek and whispering soft nothings she pressed their lips together one last time to silence him. "You have to," she said firmly and slipped the encrypted phone from her own pocket, forcing it into his hand. With a confidence she didn't really feel, she added. "I'll be fine. As soon as I know you are safe, I'll be out of here. I promise."